The World as Home

Charles Wohlforth

Monday, 29 November 1999

This feature is part of a series focusing on pieces in The Future of Nature, a book that is a compendium of the finest writing from Orion magazine and a crucial guidebook for the twenty-first century activist.

 
Charles Wohlforth is a life-long Alaskan who spends his time outdoors, skiing, boating, and caring for his four children with his wife.  He began his writing career at the weekly Homer News and became a full-time freelancer in 1993.  He is the author of many books and articles, most notably 2004’s The Whale and the Supercomputer: On the Northern Front of Climate, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Award for Science and Technology.

In "On Thin Ice" Wohlforth discusses time spent with the Iñupiaq whalers of Barrow, Alaska, during the spring whaling season of 2002. Wohlforth’s essay in The Future of Nature and his book, The Whale and the Supercomputer, are among a growing number of published accounts on the effects of global warming in the Arctic.

"...On March 18, something strange and unsettling happened.  The ice went out, leaving open water right up to the beach in front of Oliver Leavitt’s house.  No one could remember the ice going out that early.  Normally, it goes out in July.  A dozen seal hunters floated out to sea on the ice.  Search and Rescue helicopters went out to find them and bring them home.  Some didn’t know they were floating off into the Arctic Ocean until the helicopter showed up.  You can’t tell you’re moving when your whole world starts to drift away."

––Charles Wohlforth. From "On Thin Ice," from The Future of Nature

Read more from "On Thin Ice" in the excerpt featured below. Also, please check out the organizations featured for more about the environment and people of Alaska. The Orion Society, which publishes Orion magazine, where Wohlforth’s essay first appeared, is also a featured organization. 

Also visit Orion's website for Seth Kantner's blog, Dispatches from the Edge, about how life is changing in Alaska.  Kantner's new book, Shopping for Porcupine, is featured below, as is his novel, Ordinary Wolves.

 To learn about how global warming is affecting the boreal forest region of the United States, go here.